John Tucker lives on as a guilty pleasure

November 14, 2006|By Phoebe Flowers Film Writer

John Tucker Must Die,

PG-13, 90 minutes, $29.99.

OK, so it's not much more than a Mean Girls retread, with a fraction of the intelligence and none of the staying power. But, especially thanks to the lowered expectations that come from watching a movie in your living room, John Tucker Must Die is an even more dumbly enjoyable confection on DVD than it was in theaters.

The high school basketball star of the title, played by Desperate Housewives refugee Jesse Metcalf, is "somewhere between an Abercrombie model and a Greek god," according the voiceover of heroine Kate (Brittany Snow). But, as a waitress at a local restaurant, Kate -- a perpetual new girl in school thanks to her gorgeous but lovelorn mom (Jenny McCarthy) -- has plenty of opportunity to witness John Tucker's less appealing side.

Adhering to the popular (if hackneyed) "don't get mad, get even" adage, Kate rounds up the misled girls to put the screws to John. Amusingly, the makers of the film want to cast this as some sort of feminist statement, as evidenced by the brief "Grrrl Power" featurette. In it, cast members and director Betty Thomas (28 Days, The Brady Bunch Movie) struggle mightily to convince us (and perhaps themselves) of the movie's social relevance.

But really, though, John Tucker Must Die is harmless fun, with just enough snark to keep its inanity at bay. Unfortunately, the halting, unwaveringly pointless commentary by Thomas and editor Matthew Friedman doesn't reflect that sense of frivolity. It's the only substantial bonus feature -- at least in terms of length -- but like the others it seems like an obligatory afterthought intended to pad out the DVD release.

The disc also includes an optional extended version of the movie, just in case you want to pretend your girly indulgences have anything in common with, say, the director's cut of Blade Runner.